Welcome to UNITY the rock club in the heart of Peterborough. Bringing you the best of new talent and live entertainment every week. Meeting every Thursday night at Goodbarns Yard, 64 St Johns Street, Peterborough.

Wednesday, November 29, 2006

A phrase is landing in the heart of the Muddy world this weekend that I don't think I've heard since childhood days watching Blue Peter (did I just admit to that? - have you got any sticky back plastic?). This Sunday (3rd December) the Glass Onion is hosting a BRING & BUY SALE to help raise some funds and keep up with the paying the bills game that running the centre involves.

The Onion is currently running at a loss and since we still have no backing Muddy Promotions has got no financial cushion to sustain this situation for long.....any help you can give will be gratefully received. Many thanks.

There's also the Muddy Sagittarius Party at Lisboa on Saturday - any profits from which will roll straight into the Onion's coffers - yet another way that you can support this project while having fun and maybe even getting quite hammered......if you like..... :)

In fact there's alot of stuff going on to grab your attention this week - so without further delay let's have a look at what there is.

Wednesday

The Pixie Folke team are presenting a wonderful and inspiring one-off evening of music and art at Lisboa (24 Lincoln Road, Peterborough) tonight..... and entrance is by voluntary donation, with all door profits going towards recording costs for demos for two of the local artists performing.

The line-up is beyond compare - here's just some of it:

Tammy Garcia and the Flamenkines - flamenco passion from Brighton (well....Spain actually)Dana Wylie Band - folky three piece from near da boroChomsky's Chainsaw (formerly known as Circus) - you must know these by nowAdy & jo (Fiddle & Squeeze) - all the way from BrightonRu Jones (Crowzone) - also all the way from BrightonHeather McVey - soulful acoustic soloist from CambridgeJonny Fungji - oooh, an old boro legend in acoustic formatIrene Rae - a current boro legend in acoustic formatThe Singing Monk - famous for his many Pixie Skin appearancesMike da Hat - the Unity photo man from the other side of the mic for a change

This is all going on spread over both floors of Lisboa, with shedloads of amazing artwork being displayed and candlelit dinner being served in the acoustic lounge downstairs too.

Doors open for the open jam somewhere between 8 and 8:30 and entrance is £2 or £1 to Muddy members.

Friday

Friday is time for the Onion's weekly open mic session, always a laid back treat and a lovely way to start the weekend. Why not pop in. Beer on sale from 6pm and music from around 8pm till 1am.

For a much noisier start to your weekend System Abuse are continuing their monthly residency at Lisboa for another evening of sick and filthy drum & bass. This time around with guest DJ Khanage (Offkey/Ohm Resistance), the world record breaking Urb, alongside other SA residents Kodo, Scar Red and Vendetta. Doors are 9pm till 4am. There was a lovely atmosphere at the last System Abuse event so get down there and check it out. £4 on the door.

Saturday

It's time for the Muddy Sagittarius Party! This is taking place at Lisboa, and is running from 8pm till 4am.

The live line-up is of top quality and eclecticism (as you have come to expect):The Neumes - ska/folk fusion from yorkshireGodfather - sleazy funk from CambridgeSidearm - art rock wonders, gotta check them if you haven't already!Radicus - local punks with good vibe and happy attitudeMagic Lamp - live techno-trance, celebrating their success at Synergy last weekend (big up guys!)

To top things of Dj's Bidbod (Playskool - psy-trance) and Audioholic (Clear - Breaks) are ready to be served up on the menu.

Entrance is £4 or just £3 to muddy members. Look forward to seeing you there.

Alternatively much further afield the Synergy bods are holding a very special community gathering at their community centre in Camberwell, London. They've kindly invited local favourties Opaque to go and rock it out on stage. If you would be interested in attending contact Moony on opaque_moony@hotmail.com for travel details and stuff. For full details of the event check www.thesynergyproject.org

Sunday

Don't forget the bring and buy sale - you might be able to pick up some Xmas present bargains and you'll be helping the Onion stay afloat!

Later in the day Sundazed Sounds enter their second week at Lisboa - with eclectic chilled out grooves from DJ's and acoustic artists. Entrance is free and door times are 3pm till late.

....and Finally

Our good friends the Gangsters have asked us to mention that tickets are now on sale for the Skankateria 07 (the Gangsters annual Xmas Party). The line-up is phat and funky with The Gangsters, Groove Cartel and Point of Origin all on the bill, as well as ska and reggae DJ's on the night to make sure that it's an event to dance dance dance at! Advance tickets are £5 and they will be more on the door. The party is happening at Radius (above the Solstice) on Friday 29 December and is set to be a stormer. For ticket info email andrewgates23@yahoo.co.uk

Till next week bods - keep it happy - and please help keep the Onion alive.....it would be a crying shame if the Onion got the chop.....

Monday, November 27, 2006

1. On Thurs Dec 21st we are throwing the Unity Xmas party at Lisboa. This is going to be a themed night called "Beatles Stones and Elvis night" where faces from the local scene present one or two covers of tracks originally by the Beatles, the rolling stones or Elvis. If you would like to come and get involved we'd love to have you on. Backline will be completely provided on the night so you won't have to carry loads of kit it. Email andrewgates23@yahoo.co.uk with "Beatles Stones and Elvis" as the subject line. Please include your preferential choice of tunes. Thanks.

2. Unity's Band of 2007 competition will commence in January. We still have spaces left in it. Prizes on offer to the winner are £350 cash, a slot on the Unity stage at Grassroots Festival 2007, and a photoshoot by Mike da Hat. If you are interested in taking part please email andrewgates23@yahoo.co.uk with "Band of 2007" as the subject line.

3. The live stage at next year's Grassroots Festival will be called the "Unity stage" and will be booked and manned by the usual Unity crew. If you would be interested in playing please email andrewgates23@yahoo.co.uk with "Grassroots Unity stage" as the subject line.

Saturday, November 25, 2006

Simon Lee Morgan of the swings played some lively and often humourous songs.After Four. These guys are ones to watch having already performed over 100 gigs this year alone, and all of them under 18. For youngsters they showed a remarkable maturity in their playing. Great performance. We are still open for people to play at our charity Beatles Stones and Elvis night on the 21st December. It's going to be a real fun event. Everyone will be playing either Beatles Stones or Elvis numbers we've got a good line up of local "stars" playing but we've room for more if you want to come down and play.

Monday, November 20, 2006

Todays Myspace of the day comes from those Funky dudes down at the Buena Vista Social club. What they've done is get a load of your favourite artists and rerecorded their tracks with a cuban latin feel. Get a load of that brass section and marimbas baby.Anyway artists that have been given the Buena Vista treatment are The Arctic Monkeys, Kaiser Chiefs, Sting, Jack Johnson, Dido and Faithless, and Coldplay amongst others. I think you'll find they've used the original vocal track and then built around it.Anyway have a listen it's a lot of fun. Off you go, quick as you like my lovelies

Unity myspace of the day has started to become very influential, I mean where would the likes of the Rolling Stones and Elvis be if it wasn't for Unitys myspace of the day? We are making and breaking bands here.

Saturday, November 18, 2006

What a great night at Unity. Three brill bands to thrill and entertain you. And here you are...Our very good friends the amazing Super penetraitors who get more and more outrageous everytime they play.New kids on the block "Zhen Merit" who's sound intitially had a nod toward Radiohead. We were impressed by their interesting use of vocal effects. Not many other bands seem to do that. Lots of potential here then. And they seem to have stolen Wakes drummer. Oh wow! King Cool. These guys have got to be seen to be believed. All you've got is a guitarist and a drummer. But what a guitarist. Dan Donovan plays like he means it and sounds like a full band all by himself. A sort of american bluesy rock thang. The drummer keeping a very tight beat on things. Dan Donovans talents don't stop there he's also a photographer not only that he's a great guy. Not only that he wants to come back and play again. Not only that we'd let him.

Thursday, November 16, 2006

Despite it being a quiet night at Pixy these three guys played their hearts out. In fact they were pretty damned good. Haven't a clue who they were or what the bands called. Perhaps someone can enlighten us. Richard leapt in to do the occasional vocal. There has been unconfirmed rumours that local bad boy Chopper was seen to be skiing down the stairs of the town hall on a fold up chair. Whether this is true or not I don't know.

Wednesday, November 15, 2006

This year we at Unity intend to send all our friends Christmas cards Psychically. So during the next couple of weeks we'll be thinking very hard of a Christmas card and psychically sending it to each and everyone of you via telepathy. We'll be doing it individually because we're not sure our powers are enough to do a one off global telepathic mail shot.So if during the next few weeks you get a thought about Christmas and Christmas cards, well that will be us here in the Unity office sitting in a circle holding hands and sending you a Psychic Christmas card. It could be just a fleeting thought because as I say we're just beginners at this telepathy lark, but be sure to know it's us here in the Unity Office thats sending you the greetings. if you think of Christmas more than once it may be us trying again because we weren't confident we got through first time. Just treat the second thought as a missed call and ignore the rest of your christmas thoughts. Or rejoice in the knowledge that we care about you so much that we're making you think of Christmas a load of times.

This has been a public service information announcement on behalf of the Unity Team

Tuesday, November 14, 2006

Greetings Muddy ones!

It's an exciting day for the Muddy community today, with the first meeting for the Grassroots Festival 2007 taking place at the Glass Onion tonight. The meeting starts at 8pm so if you are interested in being involved head on down and have a chinwag.

There's lots going on this week around and a-bouts too so lets crack on with what a gwan.

Wednesday

The rag-tag randomness that is the Pixie Folke open mic session at Lisboa (hosted by Shaggy of Point of Origin) is pressing on and becoming more blessedly chaotic by the week. Entrance is free and doors open at 9pm so pop down and bring your instruments.

Thursday

Unity at Lisboa this Thursday has a triple bill of rock music for your enjoyment:King Kool - alternative Americana noise-smiths www.myspace.com/king_koolZhen Merit - indie rock www.myspace.com/zhenmeritThe Superpenetraitors - tongue in cheek zombie metalDoors open for the jam session at 8pm, entrance is £2 on the door, or £1 to Muddy members.

Further afield Opaque and Point of Origin are slipping into acoustic guise for performances at the Electro-Acoustic club at the Slaughtered Lamb in London. For travel and price info email opaque_moony@hotmail.com.

Friday

The Glass Onion's acoustic/open mic night is going from strength to strength. Entrance is free and music starts at 9pm.

Alternatively for funky house grooves check out Funktional at Lisboa. Doors times are 9pm till late and entrance is £3.

Saturday

Playskool are back in the Lisboa this Saturday for another session of psy-trance, breaks, deep house and drum and bass with all 7 residents on the bill. Door times are 9pm till 5am and entrance is £4.

Sunday

For a musical chilldown try Deep Roots at Lisboa- with eclectic grooves for your sunday head and free BBQ food for your Sunday belly. Entrance is free and doors open at 7pm.

For a quieter and more visual evening try the film night at the Glass Onion.

...and Finally....

Saw this the other day and it scared the living sh*t out of me. It's footage from a rather large party in the Czech Republic. The Czech police decided to make a bit of an example of the thing......I've never seen police look so much like an army before, quite scary. Check it out at http://skylined.org/adamm/police-violence/

Of course....it's not really anything compared to the violence visited on the Iraqi people in the last 15 years by our American-shafted government. Does anyone wonder what we're doing still having troops there?

..and Finally finally...

"Clare without an I" sent this link into the Unity Office. It's the John Butler Trio. This particular track on You Tube is an acoustic instrumental played on a 12 string guitar. It's awesome. If your Gob isn't well and truly smacked after this you're deaf. Go check it out. What are you waiting for? We're done talking to you:

Monday, November 13, 2006

This weeks Myspace of the day goes to the Worcester based acoustic rock combo "Rare breed" if only for their faabulous new version of The Beatles "I am a walrus". Now personally I'm of the persuasion that no one can do Beatles better then the Beatles. Though there are times when I make exceptions to this. Like when I play Beatles in my front room or when Joe Cocker does " a little help from my friends". Rare breed have managed to pull off a faithful reproduction of the spirit of the song but with a little folk rock twist spun into it. I know you're going to enjoy. So What are you waiting for? click click click.

Saturday, November 11, 2006

Charlie Alexander in a triumphant return to the Unity stage. Revenue and nothing to do with that inland combo who like to seperate you from your hard earnt cash.The Waheys. Look don't be hard on me for not writing glowing reports on these bands it's just that Day-Glo Joe is doing the music review this week and we're still waiting here at the Unity Office for his input. So if you see him and he's not head down writing the reviews feverishly give him a good kicking and mention that if he wants to be a writer the word "DEADLINE" will crop up every now and then. Because you guys want to see the pics and read the reviews. Talking of you guys here you are in all your autumnal loveliness.

Thursday, November 09, 2006

I hope you are all healthy and remaining positive and smiley in these days of shake up and global awakening.

Friday night's peace jam at the Glass Onion became a very eventful night of contrast and interesting mix-ups of peoples and ideas....just the way we like it. The rather less eventful Scorpio Party the next day was a little thin on the ground, but I'm sure that those that were there can verify we were privileged to have one of the most quality line-ups we've had the pleasure of bringing to the city yet! I guess people were too busy blowing up dolls representing ancient freedom fighters..... :)

So what a gwan this week?

Thursday

If the Unity following's ears have finished ringing after the rather heavy and rather metal Halloween celebrations they'll probably be looking forward to something a little easier on the ears this week. And on the bill this time around at Lisboa (24 Lincoln Road) are three wicked local acts - mod-rockers The Waheys ( www.myspace.com/peterboroughsthewaheys ), Revenue, who were runners-up in the Solstice Battle of the Bands last year ( www.myspace.com/revenuerock ) and Charlie Alexander first up in the acoustic slot. As always the jam session will commence proceedings at the start of the night, and DJ Urb's eclectic mix will take us through to the early hours. Doors open 8pm and entrance costs £2 or £1 to Muddy members.

Friday

I wonder if the open mic session at the Glass Onion will be as interesting as last week's? Only one way to find out - entrance is free and music starts at 8pm (ish).

Meanwhile down the road in Lisboa Twilite Promotions are bringing a night of ska to the city, with Edinburgh's finest The Big Hand and Peterborough's finest The Gangsters on the stage live and ska Dj's throughout the night. Advance tickets can be purchased at Lisboa or from the promoter (mail for details) for £5, or on the door for £7.

Further afield boro bods Opaque are travelling to the big smoke that is London playing at The Clapham Grand. A minibus is going and will cost £12 return including entry (Moony asked me to clarify that that's entry to the gig - not anal entry, which is £5 extra).

Saturday

This Saturday the Jellyfish crew are bringing Bish Bash Bosh back to Lisboa, with special guests Atomic running hard dance in the second room with the normal hardcore/drum & bass/techno/anything goes in the main room. Entrance is £4 and doors open at 9pm.

Sunday

There's something special coming to the Glass Onion this Sunday night:

politically themed films, including the life journeyof a flipflop and oil exploration in Ecuador! We canalso show any films of your liking so bring some alongand we will try to stick 'em on for you! The cinema,

powered by a solar array and biodiesel back up will bein the peace garden from 2pm with films showing from 4pm. Bring a jumper /blanket!

You can also come and find out more about how YOU canreduce your carbon footprint. Information and advice

on renewable energy, sustainable transport and energyefficiency will be on hand from the Energy SavingTrust Advice Centre. Free home energy checks and lowenergy light bulbs for everyone who joins the campaign"

to save their 20%!

Meanwhile at Lisboa Deep Roots is continuing from 6pm onwards, with free BBQ food and laid back grooves to bring you down towards Monday pace. Entrance is free.

Wednesday

The Pixie Folke open mic session is gathering a rag-tag bunch of musos each Wednesday to Lisboa. Entrance is free and doors are 9pm till late.

Wednesday, November 08, 2006

Photos & Words courtesy Day-glo Joe. Mike Da hat was in London.Saturday the action relocated to Lisboa for The Scorpio Party, one of the many Grassroots Zodiac events that are held every month to tide us all overuntil June when we can all take to the fields again for next year's GrassRoots Festival. If anyone was in doubt that this weekend was a truly magical one onterms of musical talent coming to peterborough, then Saturday night would have set them to rights. Lisboa was a picture of bohemian bliss, done up like a charming little Parisian jazz cafe, the artists and audience were instantly transported away from the icy-cold damp streets and into a mini festival. Corneilius, Sam and Sarah all played again, not the slightest bit tired after the events of the night before. They all performed brilliantly, and kudos to Sarah for doing so in spite of flu! The first of the bands was Wake, (www.listentowake.com) local boys who know how to rock. The quiet, candle-lit setting was briefly blasted with thunderous guitar explosions. People weren't quite expecting it at first, but it went down very well. Next band to entertain us was Flipron (www.flipron.co.uk), a brilliant bunch of eclectic individuals who brought some great folky eccentric pop to the proceedings. Playing everything from mandolin to accordian they were multi instrumental and full of fun and energy, not to mention very well dressed! Then as if we had not been spoiled enough over the past two days, a young man by the name of Joe Driscoll (www.myspace.com/joedriscoll) got up on the mic, and shared with us some of his inspiration. Hailing originally form New York and now residing in London, and blending hip-hop, reggae, funk, folk and american roots music into something completely new and unique, he had everyone up out of their seats within about one minute of getting on stage. He uses a loop pedal to build up multi-tracks of sound live before our eyes; a whole new kind of one man band. Layering his brilliant beatboxing with soulful bass guitar hooks and uplifting riffs and fluid backing vocals, he sang and rapped his conscious life affirming lyrics to an amazed audience. A true urban troubadour, he played three encores, including a crazy acapella drum and bass epic and a mind blowing track in which hebeatboxed through a mouth organ, which no one was expecting. When Joe finished his set Corneilius got on the decks as DJ Lockwood to keep the crowd dancing until close. Sadly Magic Lamp weren't able to play, but be sure to try and get to TheSynergy Project in London on the 24th where they will be doing their psychedelic techno madness.All in all, the weekend saw some absolutely amazing talent come to city, and to all those of you who didn't make it out on saturday night, you don't know what youmissed! For those curious to see for themselves, Lukus filmed alot of the night and it should be making its way onto the internet very soon, not to mention all the artists who played are definitely up for playing in Peterborough again soon. A bigthankyou to all the artists who came to town and to all the people who came to listen. It was truly one of the best nights that Lisboa has ever had and theatmosphere and quality of music all weekend was beautiful, exceptional, indescribable! Joe

Tuesday, November 07, 2006

Photos & words courtesy Day-glo Joe.Friday 3rd November saw the weekly acoustic jam at the Glass Onion take place, except that this particular evening was themed after the global peace effort, and we were so lucky to have a very prestigious line up taking to the stage. Starting off the night were Yo Yeti, with their lyrical acoustic hip-hop. It was thefirst time the band had played in months and it was a great return. Then we were treated to the wonderful and unusual voice of Julius Senior, all the way from Leeds. He sang a mixture of both playful and plaintive songs in a quirky style that kept everyone entertained. Piper, the Pianist from POO, set up his keyboard next for some jazzy songmanship, while bongos, djembes and congas were drumming out rhythms all over the room. After a break from the music for an important speech about war and peace (which got very heated) Sarah Bear, a beautiful young singer from the courageous Peace Not War music collective (please check out www.peace.fm and www.myspace.com/sarahbearsounds)), sat by the fireplace and treated us all to her chilled and empowering songs, with a little help from Corneilius (www.corneilius.net), who's also something of a legend in the new musical revolution. Singing songs that tell the truth, whether you want to hear it or not, yet without being preachy and patronising, Corneilius issomething of a spokesman for the new thinking of a nation fed up of war. Not long after Sam Beer www.myspace.com/samuelbeer was up, and what a prodigal musician he is. He played exquisitely to a rapt audience and brought a night of underground folk heroes to a close.

Monday, November 06, 2006

This technically isn't Unity bizz but as Abi Stacey and Kerry (Point of Origin) are all Unity Favourites we thought we'd share some pics from their London Showcase event. Which incidently was a lot of fun.

Friday, November 03, 2006

By St Benedict and all that is holy,the demons were in tonight. Three powerful death metal bands to make your ears bleed and reduce your insides to a quivering mess as if you'd been struck down by the US armys sonic attack force. Here's a few of you who managed to keep controls of your bowels despite the audio visual onslaught.First on stage with a strange tactic of each drinking six pints before they even considered picking up an instrument were Cell69. Not a long set but very popular with the crowd.Get thee behind me Satan, it's those Switch Theory boys complete with wrestling side show in front of the stage. I mentioned that they had a girl bassist in the preview. In fact she is now with child and retired to perform domestic duties which is hardly rock and roll and we protest. We will remember her fondly. I only hope she doesn't scare the new baby with her make up.Finally send in the exorcist, Sever the Wicked severed an E string on the geetar. The devils work is at hand. Cue stand up comedy routine while geetars were exchanged.OK God willing we'll be back to normal next week, that is if our ears stop bleeding and the ringing goes away.

Thursday, November 02, 2006

Apologies for the lateness and hurried writing of this week's mail - been a little hectic over here.

So no meaningful/less gibber this week - straight to the point.

ThursdayThis week's Unity at Lisboa (24 Lincoln Road, Peterborough) is a Halloween special, with three full on metal bands to resonate nicely (or not so nicely) with the dark day itself. Switch Theory, Sever the Wicked and Cell 69 are all up for full on headbanging fun which should make your ears bleed well. :) Entrance is £2 or £1 to Muddy members and doors open for the jam session at 8pm.

FridayThe bods at Diesel City Promotions have a fantastic triple bill of intelligent and slightly experimental music on Friday night upstairs at The Park. Bossk are a lo-fi and minimal yet powerful rock act, well fitted to local support and Muddy favourites Sidearm. Live trip-hop with unusual visuals from Sympathy for Mr Vengeance completes the line-up. Doors open at 8:30 pm and entrance is £5.

Meanwhile System Abuse are taking over Lisboa for another night of loud and in-yer-face drum and bass. Doors open 9pm and entrance is £4.

The Glass Onion's acoustic night/open mic is being blessed with some great artists this week - but you'll have to turn up to see who....ooh the suspense.

Abit further afield local techno-trance live act Magic Lamp are playing in Brixton at the Medussa Club, a wicked little underground venue just off Coldharbour Lane. The party is called Pulse and is being run over two rooms by Edensounds (eclectic electronic beats) and Mysztified Minds (psy-trance). Door times are a very long 9pm till 12 noon the next day and entrance on the door is £10. If you are interested in going to support the Lamp at this party please get in touch for venue/transport details.

SaturdayIt's time for the Muddy community to celebrate all things Scorpio at Lisboa this Saturday. A very high quality line-up has been put together for your pleasure including Joe Driscoll (you've got to see this one man show to believe it- highly original highly skilled and with well written material) Flipron (psych-blues - Radio 2 favourties) Corneilius (if you don't him by now.....you should) Sam Beer (see comment about Corneilius) Wake (local rock favourites) and Sarah Bear (you may have seen this amazing lady perform at Synergy or any of the many festivals she played at this summer). Electronic wise Dj Lookwood (psy-trance- Small World/The Drome) is taking to the decks, Magic Lamp are playing live celebrating their return to the boro and Shaggy will finish the night with psychedelic and dirty breakbeats. Doors are 4pm till 5am and entrance is £5 or £4 to Muddy members.

SundayDeep Roots are still in session on Sunday nights at Lisboa with eclectic laid back grooves to mellow out your weekend heads.

Finally Myspace of the day. You know I think we should call it myspace of the week or month or summat. Anyway Myspace of the day goes to Kaputt. They from London claiming to be an Anglo-German band with more influences than you can shake a stick at. Apart from that they're pretty cool. What you waiting for go look listen... off you go